Mon - Sat 7:00 to 7:00

Blog

How Africa’s fastest solar power project is lighting up Rwanda

By David Smith via The Guardian.

“Arise, shine for your light has come,” reads a sign at the entrance to the first major solar power farm in east Africa.

The 8.5 megawatt (MW) power plant in Rwanda is designed so that, from a bird’s-eye view, it resembles the shape of the African continent. “Right now we’re in Somalia,” jokes Twaha Twagirimana, the plant supervisor, during a walkabout of the 17-hectare site.

The plant is also evidence, not only of renewable energy’s increasing affordability, but how nimble it can be. The $23.7M solar field went from contract signing to construction to connection in just a year, defying skeptics of Africa’s ability to realize projects fast.